All-flash SAN arrays are priced at $0.50 per GB

Unlike other flash array vendors, American Megatrends optimises its all-flash arrays to suit the specific needs of each environment by using the StorTrends iDATA Analysis Tool, which accurately defines a user’s storage requirements. StorTrends iDATA can assess an organisation’s entire IT environment to analyse capacity utilisation, IOPS usage and reads versus writes for volumes, network bandwidth, performance, server statistics and to classify the amount of ‘write data’ versus ‘read data’ required in their environment. The free StorTrends iData tool allows enterprises to accurately plan their next storage investment, removing all the guesswork which could leave the applications under-provisioned or over-provisioned.

The 3600i all-flash SAN arrays leverage deduplication and compression, which achieves outstanding capacity savings. The flash arrays are delivered out-of-the-box with an all-inclusive feature set comprised of inline deduplication and compression, enlift caching, advanced snapshots, automated data tiering, active/active or active/passive configuration, WAN optimisation for unparallelled replication speeds and SSD based data encryption The devices are available with Write Tier SSD capacities of 200, 400, 800GB and 2TB as well as Read Tier SSD capacities of 128, 256, 512GB and 1TB.

StorTrends customer Cross IT Services and Solutions recently deployed a StorTrends 3610i array, and is in the process of migrating the data from five spinning disk SAN/NAS units onto its all-flash storage solution. The 3610i will now serve as the backbone of its cloud infrastructure, which hosts its end customers’ applications and information.

“We have long been aware of the advantages of flash over spinning disk, but from a budgetary standpoint it did not previously make sense to deploy on a large scale. However, with the price of flash coming down, it made sense to explore,” said Ryan Kelly, Manager, Technical Services, Cross IT Services and Solutions.

“After a careful review, we found that StorTrends offered a full-flash solution that we felt had superior features and functionality over that of other flash competitors, at a fraction of the cost. In fact, the pricing was actually quite comparable to that of a spinning disk solution. Another significant selling point for us was that the StorTrends service organisation is made up of highly experienced storage professionals, and is backed by parent company, American Megatrends, an organisation that has a long lineage of quality and stability. Having that kind of company in your corner, versus many of the startup storage competitors and newcomers to the market, is huge,” added Kelly.

“Until today, the vast majority of customers have been shy of all-flash storage primarily due to the cost. AMI has broken down this barrier by offering all-flash storage for less than $0.50 per GB. This is due to the highly efficient data deduplication, compression and enlift caching technology that is offered within the StorTrends 3600i series,” said Justin Bagby, Director of StorTrends Division, American Megatrends.

“For organisations that are considering making the move to an all-flash array, please download the StorTrends iDATA tool and let it show you the savings and performance requirements your infrastructure needs before investing into an all-flash array. The StorTrends iDATA tool will provide you with an estimated dedupe ratio while also telling you how much active data versus cold data you have within your environment. This will allow you and your team to plan appropriately and avoid being over-or-under sold by a vendor,” added Bagby.

The StorTrends 3600i all-flash arrays are available now and priced from $24,999. StorTrends solutions are sold with the StorAID Support programme, which includes 24/7 technical phone support and next business day onsite replacement.

StorTrends will showcase the 3600i all-flash arrays at CeBIT 2015, which takes place from 16^th to 20^th March. The company will be situated in hall 15 at booth D66. To schedule a demonstration appointment during the show, please email Winfried Prohl at WinfriedP@ami.com.